■ National Biodiversity Authority (NBA) has released Rs 3 crore to 198 farmers and one educational institution on Tuesday

■ Each farmer is set to receive between Rs 33,000 and Rs 22 lakh, a sum significantly higher than what they might have earned through direct wood sales

■ Earlier, it released Rs 48 crore to the Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka Forest Departments

Metro India News | AMARAVATI

Ushering the Red Sanders cultivators of Andhra Pradesh, the National Biodiversity Authority (NBA) has released Rs 3 crore to 198 farmers and one educational institution on Tuesday. The funds were distributed under the Access and Benefit-Sharing (ABS) framework, aimed at promoting the sustainable use of biological resources and ensuring that local communities receive their fair share of benefits.

According to officials, the beneficiaries include farmers from 48 villages across Chittoor, Nellore, Tirupati, and Kadapa districts, along with Andhra University, which also received a share of the funds. The Andhra Pradesh State Biodiversity Board facilitated the disbursal on behalf of the national authority.

The financial benefits vary depending on the quantity of Red Sanders wood supplied to end-users. Each farmer is set to receive between Rs 33,000 and Rs 22 lakh, a sum significantly higher than what they might have earned through direct wood sales alone. Officials noted that the payouts demonstrate the tangible economic benefits of adhering to biodiversity conservation and sustainable utilization principles.

“The NBA’s initiative not only rewards the cultivators but also encourages conservation of the rare and valuable Red Sanders species. It’s an effort to turn biodiversity preservation into a viable and profitable livelihood option,” said V. Raghava, NTR District Forest officer.

The NBA has a history of similar interventions. Earlier, it released Rs 48 crore to the Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka Forest Departments and the AP State Biodiversity Board for Red Sanders conservation, and Rs 55 lakh to farmers in Tamil Nadu under the same scheme.

The current funding follows the recommendations of a special expert committee constituted by the NBA in 2015 to guide Red Sanders management. Acting on these recommendations, the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT)in 2019 introduced policy relaxations to permit the export of cultivated Red Sanders, marking a turning point in how India manages and monetizes its endemic tree species.

Officials added that the ongoing initiative underscores the central idea of the ABS framework community participation, equitable benefit-sharing, and sustainable biodiversity management. The latest release, they said, reinforces that conservation can coexist with economic growth, transforming Red Sanders farming into a model of ecological and financial sustainability for rural Andhra Pradesh.